Following is a press-release from the University of Georgia announcing the
award of the Harry and Jane Willson Professorship in the Humanities to Bill
Kretzschmar, long-time member of the Association for Computers and the
Humanities. The full text is at
http://www.uga.edu/news/artman/publish/040421willsongift.shtml.

WM

>ATHENS, Ga. -- With a $250,000 gift to the University of Georgia Center
>for Humanities and Arts, Harry and Jane Willson of Albany have endowed a
>professorship in the humanities.
>
>The CHA Willson Professorship will be a collaboration between the Center
>for Humanities and Arts and UGA's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.
>William A. Kretzschmar Jr., professor of English and linguistics at UGA,
>will hold the position.
>
>Harry and Jane Willson own Sunnyland Farms, the largest mail order pecan
>products business in the country. Though not UGA graduates, the Willsons
>have supported the university in many ways over the past 20 years.
>
>Jane Willson, who graduated from Wellesley College in 1945, has served on
>the board of trustees of the UGA Foundation. She previously made a gift to
>support UGA's Center for International Trade and Security. Harry Willson
>earned a bachelor's degree from Emory University and an MBA from Harvard
>in 1943.
>
>"Harry and Jane believe strongly in the importance of education, and they
>are committed to helping the University of Georgia provide the best
>possible training and preparation for the future leaders of our state and
>nation," said UGA President Michael F. Adams. "They are valued friends of
>the university, and we are deeply appreciative of their support."
>
>Kretzschmar joined UGA in 1986 as editor-in-chief of the American
>Linguistic Atlas Project, the oldest and largest ongoing language survey
>project in the country. While continuing in that position, he has become
>the American pronunciation editor for the Oxford English Dictionary and is
>co-editor of the Oxford Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English.
>
>He involves both undergraduate and graduate students in his research,
>supporting their work with grants from the National Science Foundation,
>the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Dialect Society
>and other sources.
>
>Kretzschmar was director of UGA's linguistics program from 1996 to 1999.
>He has been a leader in the Campus Information Technology Forum and other
>initiatives to develop the university's information technology capability.
>
>Wyatt Anderson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said Kretzschmar
>has an international reputation for using techniques of humanities
>computing in his linguistics research and "is an ideal choice to be the
>first CHA Willson professor."
>
>Betty Jean Craige, director of the Center for Humanities and Arts, praised
>Kretzschmar as both an extraordinary scholar and excellent citizen of the
>university. "He will bring distinction to the title of the CHA Willson
>professor," Craige said.
>
>Kretzschmar's appointment was made on the recommendation of a committee of
>UGA senior scholars in the humanities.